Pine Meadow Country Club Estates

$41 (cart included), played on Sunday, June 2013 at 6am

I play this course 5-10 times a year. Starting in March/April depending on when they open for the summer. (the course is closed from November to March every winter.) The Spring is when they try to bring the course back to playable condition. They do a fairly good job of making it playble but it is not at its best until the end of July and into August, Septemeber and October. I would recomend you play it in Aug, Sep, or Oct. The grass is very green and lush by then and it is well maintained. The greens are ususally in good shape but sometimes have a small dead spot on some greens. I played in June and the course was in below average shape right now. The greens were in perfect condition though. They were soft and receptive and rolled true. The course was beeing water heavily every night while I was up there. It shouldn't be long before it is in perfect condition for the monsoon and fall part of the year. If you live in the Phoenix area, get up to Overgaard and play this course. It's not a Troon course by any means, but if you go in August or September you will be happy with it.

$36 (cart included), played on Thursday, July 2009 at noon

I enjoyed the course and if I find myself up in Overgaard again, I would play it again. The staff was VERY nice and helpful. The price was good and included the cart fees and was considerably less than some courses nearby. The course, although not very long, has some very tough little holes. The greens were soft and receptive to high shots. The bar, lounge and pro shop were rustic but "OK ". The men's room was stocked with sun block products, so if a golfer had forgotten to apply his own, it was available without charge. Not much is free these days. I thought this courtesy was a very nice and thoughtful touch. The pace of play was a bit slower than it should be. I think the age of some of the golfers may be a factor here. That is not a criticism of the course, however.

The carts could use a quick clean-up and the brakes on the carts should be checked. The cart paths need some backfill as they are badly "rutted" everywhere. Some of the greens needed repair. Some golfers have no consideration for the course and we found divots that needed to be filled even though each cart has two sand/seed bottles. We topped ours off before we left the parking lot. The traps were a bit hard in some areas, while others were fine. Where it was rough, it was rough...but some of the rough allowed for an easy escape with just a dusting of fine dirt. I would like to see the yardage markers replaced. Some were missing and some were hidden in the rough at the sides of the fairways. Having no experience with the course, I relied on the "best guess" method of yardage estimation on some holes.

The wind blew and blew and we were told that it is worse in the early and late spring.

Overall I had a good time and would play it again. I would also say "give it a try", the price is right and the staff are VERY nice folks.